Heretofore, watercrafts such as boats, canoes, jet skis, rafts etc. have generally been moored to a dock pipe as by a rope. If tightly bound, the rope would prevent the watercraft from rising as the water level rises, thus causing the watercraft to tip and possibly sink. Alternatively, if the rope was loosely bound, the rope would rise with increasing water height and come off the dock pipe causing the watercraft to drift away and even be lost.
Prior art mooring devices are set forth in the following U.S. patents:
U.S. Pat. No. Re 27,050 relates to a reportedly force absorbing system adapted to be used with a moored vessel including a base affixed to the dock, a pair of yielding elements extending from the base and a pair of vertically disposed bumper sections attached to respective yielding elements. The bumper sections are suspended in the water with clearance from the bottom and receive support from the dock from above the water line.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,001,371 relates to an offshore drilling rig mooring and more particularly to a floating mooring buoy especially adapted for a floating attachment to an offshore drilling rig support.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,598 relates to a mooring device for mooring a boat having an upright pair of shafts adapted to be inserted upright into the lake bottom in spaced parallel relation to one another, with the upper portions of the shafts projecting above the surface of the lake, a pair of air tight containers acting as floats, said containers each having a vertical bore to slideably receive the said shafts, rope attaching means on each of said containers, said shafts being spaced further apart from one another than the length of said boat, rope means attached to the front of the boat may be attached to one of said containers and the rope means attached to the rear of said boat may be attached to the other of said containers, and said container will reportedly float upward and downward on said shaft in response to changes to the lake surface while maintaining said boat moored between said shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,342 relates to a mooring bumper device having a floatable base floating on a water surface and loosely surrounding a mooring pile for up and down movement thereon under the action of tide and wind. The bumper device has an axial opening through which the mooring pile extends and the upper terminal end of the bumper device is flat and horizontal. A metal hitch ring provided with a plurality of eyes to one or more of which a boat mooring line is attached is freely seated on the flat upper end of the bumper device in surrounding relation to the mooring pile providing relative rotation between the bumper device and the hitch ring. The eyes on the hitch ring lie inwardly of the peripheral edge of the flat upper end of the bumper device.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,779 relates to a boat mooring device comprising a bow-shaped frame member with a cable or the like attached thereto and with a slidable member supported on said cable and secured to a boat so that as the movement of the water causes the boat to move up and down, as well as in other directions, the sides of the boat will bear against the slidable member and reportedly will move it to correspond to the up and down movement of the boat and thereby prevent scuffing and damage to the boat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,576 relates to a boat mooring arrangement which reportedly permits the boat to rise and drop vertically with tides or wave action, but which constrains the boat from lateral movement relative to a fixed dock or pier. A pair of cylindrical posts are affixed to the dock or pier at spaced-apart locations and extend vertically downward therefrom for a predetermined distance below the surface of the water. Associated with each of these posts is a carriage assembly comprising a U-shaped collar having rollers journaled for rotation across the spaced-apart legs of the U-shaped collar. The carriage assemblies reportedly cooperate with the exterior surface of the posts and ride up and down with respect to the posts when the carriage assemblies are fastened to the boat to be moored by suitable tie lines and changes in water level are encountered.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,521 relates to a boat mooring apparatus to allow for ease of travel up and down dock piling posts in such a fashion that it is free to move vertically with changes in tide. It comprises a mooring line roller and chafe resistor which includes a ribbed tube and spools or rollers mounted on tube and fitted over the mooring lines. It is fitted on the dock lines and around the dock posts and tied to the cleats of a vessel to be moored.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,628 relates to a docking post which includes a tubular housing having a front wall, including an elongate slot directed through the front wall longitudinally aligned relative the housing and parallel to the housing axis, with the housing having a rear wall mounted to an associated mooring post. A first tube is mounted within the housing, having a securement ring thereon, with a second tube positioned below the first tube having a length adjusted to accommodate a predetermined length between a boat water line and a boat securement cleat. A third buoyant tube is mounted below the second tube to effect displacement of the first and second tube to reportedly effect displacement of the first and second tube relative to rising and lowering tides and water level relative to the tubular housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,727 relates to a hollow toroidal member of high-strength material for reportedly withstanding mooring loads and has a central opening which slips over a mooring pile. A reinforcing ring is preferably secured in the core of the member to provide additional load-bearing capability to the device. A pair of diametrically opposite mooring openings are formed in the member and ring each opening for receiving a boat mooring line, the openings in the member and ring being aligned. The member is preferably molded with its core in fluid isolation from the ambient atmosphere to provide buoyancy. In the alternative, the core is filled with flotation material. A pair of apertured legs may be used in place of the openings in the member for securing the mooring lines thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,781 relates to a watercraft mooring device which reportedly permits the watercraft to rise and drop vertically with the water level and which provides both direct shock absorption between the watercraft and the fixed mooring point, such as the pier or piling, and protection against scraping between the watercraft and the fixed mooring point. A floating tube is provided, which is designed to loosely fit over and around the fixed mooring point and which provides one or more attachment grooves for holding an attachment rope, cord or cable in place. The provided floating tube includes one or more securing hooks for securing the attachment rope, cord or cable when it is not needed to moor the watercraft. By providing a floating mooring device, the watercraft is permitted to maintain the same relative distance between the watercraft and the fixed mooring point, providing a device for protecting a watercraft from undesirable contact with other mooring structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,045 relates to a device for dock storage and boat accessible retrieval of a boat docking line. The device generally comprises a pedestal that is fixedly attachable to a dock and an arm rotatably attached to the upper end of said pedestal, said arm including a hook disposed at the distal end of said arm for receipt of a docking line.